One year after she won a case acknowledging her first amendment right to display a middle finger in Christmas lights on the roof of her home, a Denham Springs woman has brought back the display this year as part of an ongoing feud with a neighbor.

The possible loss, which covers the next three years, is based on the assumption that many companies outside the US will buy services in other countries rather than risk copies of their data being turned over to the US government.

The estimate comes amid claims some US tech firms have given access to spies to scoop up data from servers and cloud computing warehouses.

In June, National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower Edward Snowden began leaking details of the extent of snooping done by US spies into the lives of ordinary people and companies.

Monday, December 16, 2013

We spend a lot of time thinking about what to post on Facebook. Should you argue that political point your high school friend made? Do your friends really want to see yet another photo of your cat (or baby)? Most of us have, at one time or another, started writing something and then, probably wisely, changed our minds.

Unfortunately, the code that powers Facebook still knows what you typed—even if you decide not to publish it. It turns out that the things you explicitly choose not to share aren't entirely private.

Facebook calls these unposted thoughts "self-censorship," and insights into how it collects these nonposts can be found in a recent paper written by two Facebookers. Sauvik Das, a Ph.D. student at Carnegie Mellon and summer software engineer intern at Facebook, and Adam Kramer, a Facebook data scientist, have put online an article presenting their study of the self-censorship behavior collected from 5 million English-speaking Facebook users. (The paper was also published at the International Conference on Weblogs and Social Media.*) It reveals a lot about how Facebook monitors our unshared thoughts and what it thinks about them.

The increase in police brutality in this country is a frightening reality. In the last decade alone the number of people murdered by police has reached 5,000. The number of soldiers killed since the inception of the Iraq war, 4489.

Friday, December 13, 2013

At least 15 people were killed yesterday in central Yemen, when missiles fired from an unmanned US drone slammed into a wedding convoy. Yemeni security officials said the attack took place near the city of Radda, the capital of Bayda province, leaving behind charred bodies and burnt out vehicles.

No names and few details have been released. The CIA and US military, which are responsible for the criminal program of targeted assassinations in Yemen, Pakistan and other countries, have made no statement.

Yemeni security officials have provided conflicting accounts of the attack. “An air strike missed its target and hit a wedding car convoy,” one official told Reuters. “Ten people were killed immediately and another five who were injured died after being admitted to the hospital.” Another five people were injured. No attempt was made to explain what the real target was, or why “a mistake” was made.

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

"I have been studying drugs for 22 years," Hart said in an interview with Columbia College Today. "I am here to tell you, drugs are not the bogeyman that people said they were."

Dispelling the myths surrounding drug abuse and addiction is precisely the goal of Hart's new book, High Price: A Neuroscientist's Journey of Self-Discovery That Challenges Everything You Know About Drugs and Society.

Stoned Kids | VICE United StatesMedical marijuana is legal in 20 states and the District of Columbia, but there are still use cases that are very controversial, like medical marijuana for children. Some claim it's a wonder drug for epilepsy, severe autism, and even to quell the harsh side effects of chemotherapy, while others decry pumping marijuana into still-growing bodies. We went to the small town of Pendleton, Oregon, where medical marijuana is legal, to visit Mykayla Comstock, an eight-year-old leukemia patient who takes massive amounts of weed to treat her illness. Her family, and many people we met along the way, believe not only in the palliative aspects of the drug, but also in marijuana's curative effect—that pot can literally shrink tumors.

I have been reading up on the Amish for one chapter of the book on legal systems very different from ours that I'm currently working on. They provide an example of what I think of as an embedded legal system—a group that is under the authority of an external legal system, but also has its own legal system which it succeeds in enforcing on its members. Other examples are modern gypsies and Jewish communities during the diaspora, which were often given the right to impose Jewish law on their members by their gentile rulers.

It occurred to me that one could view the Amish as a working example of a form of anarchy. It is a very strange form, since the rules that the Amish are under are considerably more constraining—including rules on what styles of clothing they can wear, rules against owning automobiles or flying on airplanes, and much else—than the rules the rest of us are under. But those rules are all voluntarily accepted, and the system that generates them may reasonably be viewed as a competitive system of private law.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Firearm prohibitionists love to use tragedy to leverage their agenda. So, it’s important for gun rights advocates to stand their ground and fire back (proverbially) whenever this happens.

I posted a graphic on Facebook claiming the average number of people killed in mass shootings when stopped by police is 18.25, and the average number of people killed in a mass shooting when stopped by civilians is 2.2. I based it on 10 shootings I found listed on some timeline somewhere. I honestly don’t even remember where. I presented the case studies in a blog post on the Silver Circle blog and I did the math myself.

The graphic was met with great enthusiasm and much skepticism. Leave it to Facebook users to demand an audit on a meme. So, I started over, only much more meticulous this time. I compiled and analyzed 100 shootings, noting my methodology, and I am now prepared to present my findings, complete with links to the data. But here’s a spoiler… It’s not that different.

The average number of people killed in mass shootings when stopped by police is 14.29

The average number of people killed in a mass shooting when stopped by a civilian is 2.33

In this video a young man is sitting in his car when he tells the police officer asking him questions to “shut up.” What happens next is a cookie cutter case of power trip brutality caused by the cop escalating violence to unneeded levels. The man was not resisting in the least, yet this cop proceeds to pummel him with his night stick and then pepper sprays him.

It is unclear what exactly caused the cop to detain this individual but it is not at all unclear as to who escalated the situation to violence.

Monday, December 2, 2013

This is another plus for Bitcoins, if you are attacked by the government they can claim they have "confiscated" so many Bitcoins from Ross Ulbricht but in reality they have confiscated shit! Unless they know the password and code to the Bitcoin wallet they will never have possession of the Bitcoins. As a matter of fact if Ross trusted someone and shared that info with them they may have already removed the Bitcoins from the wallet. This is why the state hates bitcoins, it makes them look like fools. The state cannot control Bitcoins.

In a recent article at The Independent Political Report, James Gray perpetuates the fairy-tale of the police as heroes to be looked up to. He writes, “One of the most noble public servant positions in our society is a police officer. These men and women often have difficult jobs, and frequently do not get the credit and appreciation they deserve.” If police were these heroes, then stories of botched drug raids would not be a standard news story. People would be outraged every time they heard about an officer killing a family pet, or an innocent human being, because it would be so unusual. Instead, these stories are routine, because the image of police as heroic public servants is a myth.

I would like to first state that Judge Gray does give one good piece of advice for anyone who is ever stopped by police, “keep your hands in plain sight.” This should be done for your own safety, because the police often overreact when they are startled. I have first-hand experience in this. The only time I have ever had a gun drawn on me, it was from a police officer who was responding to a suspected robbery, but he was at the wrong house. If I had made any sudden movements I would likely have lost my life. On another occasion an officer stopped me for a seat belt violation, and when he approached my vehicle he had his hand on his weapon. I put my hands on the wheel for my own safety, because you never know what behavior to expect, although police tend to be on their best behavior when they know they’re being filmed.

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Be thankful of what you have and for those who you love and those who love you but also reflect back on the past a little. We need to learn the real history of this country. It isn't all peaches and cream folks, I'm sorry.

The jurors in Tarrant County found David Tran, 17, not guilty of drunken driving despite a blood alcohol level of .095 — above the legal limit of .08. Faced with such a small level above the line, the jury had asked the judge if it could ignore the reading of the BAL device. They apparently did just that and Ray was enraged.

He first told Tran, “You got lucky. You absolutely are legally guilty of this offense.” He told the jurors:

I’ve been at this such a long time I know better than to get angry. But you just decided to ignore the law and your oath, and you know you did. The note that you sent out says, “Can we ignore the Intoxilyzer.” And you have the definitions of intoxication. And they were certainly—At least that one was very plain in this case and up on the board for you to see. And for whatever reasons, you chose to ignore that part of the evidence. And you have the right to do that. It’s called jury nullification. It’s when a jury decides to ignore the law or ignore the evidence. And they just want a certain outcome, and they maneuver until they get there. Perfect example, the O.J. Simpson trial. He clearly committed murder, and the jury didn’t want to convict him, so they found a way to—to render a not guilty verdict. So it happens. I’ve been around over 40 years in this profession, tried an awful lot of cases as a defense lawyer, as a prosecutor, and as a judge, and it happens. But this ranks among there as one of the most bizarre verdicts that I’ve seen. Thank you for your service, and you are excused.

It was an entirely inappropriate and unprofessional response from the judge. The judge was not just publicly flogging the jury for ruling for a defendant but he was making a public record that, despite his acquittal, Tran was guilty. In my view, such outbursts should be punished as a violation of judicial ethics.

STU PITT BLOG: This is what justice looks like! Fuck the Judge! Fuck the State! Fuck the System!

My father, age 86, is on the final approach to the long dirt nap (to use his own phrase). His mind is 98% gone, and all he has left is hours or possibly months of hideous unpleasantness in a hospital bed. I'll spare you the details, but it's as close to a living Hell as you can get.

If my dad were a cat, we would have put him to sleep long ago. And not once would we have looked back and thoughttoo soon.

Because it's not too soon. It's far too late. His smallish estate pays about $8,000 per month to keep him in this state of perpetual suffering. Rarely has money been so poorly spent.

I'd like to proactively end his suffering and let him go out with some dignity. But my government says I can't make that decision. Neither can his doctors. So, for all practical purposes, the government is torturing my father until he dies.

I'm a patriotic guy by nature. I love my country. But the government? Well, we just broke up.

And let me say this next part as clearly as I can.

If you're a politician who has ever voted against doctor-assisted suicide, or you would vote against it in the future, I hate your fucking guts and I would like you to die a long, horrible death. I would be happy to kill you personally and watch you bleed out. I won't do that, because I fear the consequences. But I'd enjoy it, because you motherfuckers are responsible for torturing my father. Now it's personal.

The bereaved mother of Utah teen is convinced her otherwise healthy son’s death was caused by a flu-shot he was given the day before he fell ill – in a case which baffled doctors.

In the obituary for her son, Chandler, 19, Lori Webb said that her son was given his first ever shot on October 15th after agreeing to travel on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

However, the day after receiving the flu and tuberculosis shots, the Brighton High School graduate began suffering sever vomiting and was admitted to hospital in Salt Lake City wehere he fell into a coma 24-hours later.

‘Sicker than he has ever been in his life. He says he’s never shook so hard his whole life. He had the worst headache, throw up, and he slept for about two and a half days and didn’t eat anything during that time,’ said Webb to the Salt Lake Tribune.

Chandler was ultimately taken off life support after a month in a coma and he died on Tuesday after 28 days in the hospital.

Chandler Webb’s direct cause of death was swelling of the brain, his mother said.

But Lori claims that it has to be the flu shot because her had never been ill before.

‘We’re angry because we believe it’s the flu shot that caused it,’ said Lori to the Salt Lake Tribune.

However, Chandler’s doctors have not discussed his case and public health officials repeated that the vaccine is safe and rarely has serious side effects.

Being a politician is totally illogical. You must constantly lie and make promises you know you can't keep. You say anything to get elected into office. You teach others not to bully, hurt and rob when you constantly pass Bills that will bully,hurt and rob others. This picture is an insult to logic. Politics is totally illogical, Freedom is logical.

Friday, November 22, 2013

If you don’t get lined up for this year’s lethal injection – ahem – I mean flu shot – you just might get a push from a well-meaning (but brainwashed) friend or neighbor. A national campaign has begun with the intention to shame and peer pressure everyone to get the flu shot.

#FLUgitives live in every town in America; they could be hiding in your workplace, your gym, the grocery store, or even in your own home. Each year in the U.S., 1 in 5 people, or up to 20 percent of the population, gets the flu and an estimated 226,000 people are hospitalized from influenza-related complications. But since the single most important thing adults can do to help prevent spreading the flu is to get their annual flu vaccination, these #FLUgitives should not wait. #FLUgitives are encouraged to come out of hiding, round up other #FLUgitives and turn themselves in to their healthcare provider to learn about the seriousness of influenza and their available vaccine options.

“Because flu season can begin as early as October and last through May, the best prevention for those planning to get their annual flu shot is to get it as early as possible in the season, allowing your body time to build up its immunity,” said Carlos E. Picone, M.D., F.C.C.P., Vice-Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C.

Research has shown that social influences are a primary factor in the adoption of health behaviors. The FLUgitives campaign leverages the positive power of social peer influence to drive more people to help protect themselves against the flu by getting vaccinated and features four #FLUgitives whom everyone might know – or may even relate to themselves. (source)

Cops Kill 8 Times More Americans – LewRockwell.comMany people have noticed that several of the local police officers, particularly the younger ones are more gruff, rude and even abusive as compared to the past. Many veteran officers attribute the shift towards DHS’ training of local police which focuses on teaching the police that the public is their enemy as opposed to the traditional view that teaches that the local population and the police are partners in keeping the community safe.

Whatever happened to the friendly neighborhood cop who walked a beat, was well-known and respected by the local residents and was seen as the protector of the neighborhood? Far too often, that cop has been replaced by thugs wearing camouflage, bank robber type black ski masks who are armed with automatic weapons and sometimes even break down the doors of people who are innocent.

A Long-Term Trend Towards the Militarization of the Local Police

Americans have long maintained that a man’s home is his castle and that he has the right to stand his ground in defending his property from dangerous interlopers.

Unfortunately, the right to defend one’s own home may be disappearing. America has become SWAT team happy. America has seen a disturbing trend towards militarization of its local civilian law enforcement, along with a dramatic and very disturbing rise in the use of paramilitary police units being used for routine police work. The most common use of SWAT teams today is to serve narcotics warrants, usually with forced, unannounced entry into the home. However, anyone can be SWAT-teamed, even those who default on their student loans have been SWAT-teamed.

Since 9/11, and the subsequent militarization of the police by the Department of Homeland Security, about 5,000 Americans have been killed by US police officers. The civilian death rate is nearly equal to the number of US soldiers killed in Iraq. In fact, you are 8 times more likely to be killed by a police officer than by a terrorist.

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Doctors look down their noses at patients who frequently take or inquire about dietary supplements. The standard answer is that these natural remedies are unproven, while doctors prescribe FDA-sanctioned drugs that have undergone double-blind placebo-controlled human studies – considered the gold standard for safety and effectiveness.

Furthermore, the biological action of most prescription drugs can be duplicated with vitamins, minerals, amino acids and herbal products at far less cost and side effects.

But cost and effectiveness aside, the primary reason why so many people search for alternatives to prescription drugs is that while there is treatment for disease, often there are no cures.

According to a study published in the British Medical Journalalmost four in ten adults and one in nine children use some form of alternative medicine. These are not the uneducated nor fanatics. Women with higher education levels and incomes are more likely to use alternative therapies.

A real hero is a firefighter who chooses to face imminent danger in order to directly save lives.

A real hero is a carpenter or architect or engineer who builds us the structures that make our lives safer and our world smaller.

A real hero is a scientist who spends his life in search of cures and remedies.

A real hero is a person who voluntarily feeds and clothes the needy, and gives them hope in times of hopelessness.

A real hero is a teacher who explains to us the details of how our world works.

A real hero is an inventor or entrepreneur who dreams of new ways to make our lives better and gives us the inspiration to do more.

A real hero is a writer or performer who lifts our sadness and offers us joy.

A real hero is a fisherman who braves the elements to keep us fed.

A real hero is a businessman who provides what a community demands better or for less than they could find elsewhere.

A real hero is a person who saves his wealth, deferring his own consumption so that others may have a chance to improve their station.

A real hero is a friend who listens to our worries and provides comfort during our trying times.

A real hero is any person who sees others living their lives peacefully, and lets them be.

We encounter many heroes in our day-to-day lives.

Real heroes are peaceful. Their heroics aren’t predicated on inflicting harm. Real heroes are not responsible for the deaths of untold innocents, including children. Real heroes do not perpetuate injustice throughout the world. Their primary value is not unflinching obedience. They don’t face imprisonment for not obeying commands from superiors; they do what they do because they choose to do so. They participate in mutually beneficial behavior. Their remuneration isn’t forcefully extracted from others, nor do they have guaranteed benefits for life. Real heroes don’t expect - nay,demand - public adulation for themselves or their symbolism. And they don’t represent the armed extension of tyranny cloaked in the facade of honor, justice, freedom, and selflessness.

There are many heroes you should thank today, just not the ones you’re told to.

In other words, Eyewitnesses suck. This is one reason I no longer support the death penalty. Too many innocent people are found guilty because people imagine they saw what they did not see. Over 200 people have been released from death row because of DNA evidence.

So many people in this world do not understand this word. They think, "I'm a peaceful person I don't hurt anyone"Not true, you use the states thugs to agress against your neighbors all the time. Every time you vote for a law that tells others how to live their lives you agress against them. Forcing them to live by your standards is aggression. Telling them what they can drink, what they can eat, who they can or can't love, where they can go, what they can say, what they can buy or not buy, who they can buy from or not buy from. Please stop forcing your morals on others. It's none of your business how others want to live as long as they are not harming anyone leave them alone. Live and Let Live. A lot of people say it but hardly anyone lives it. I try very hard to live it. Try it, Live and Let Live. Leave peaceful people alone. It doesn't matter what they do just as long as they do no harm to others.